ORLANDO -- The Orange County School Board meets again Monday evening to talk about its multimillion-dollar budget shortfall.
Proposed cuts may have a direct effect on veteran teachers, but the school district is not forcing them to retire early.
However, the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Futurehe commission said the district could lose about one-third of its most accomplished teachers, as the jobs those teachers want within the district will not be available soon.
Diane Recchio, a Blankner School teacher who has been with Orange County Public Schools for 25 years, said she is retiring in June, before the expected wave of retirees.
“What worries me is that fewer and fewer teachers come into the profession and stay in the profession. That worries me,” Recchio said.
By some estimates, more than one-third of new teachers last only three years.
Recchio said at this stage in her life, she would prefer to wait four years to retire, and become a reading coach instead of leading a huge classroom of kids, but because of the budget crisis, the district cannot afford a reading coach.
A national commission on teachers found that nearly half of Florida’s teachers are over 50, including Recchio.
Kathy Marsh, a school district spokeswoman, said what is happening in Orange County is consistent with the national trend, and that recruiting younger teachers to replace the retired teachers will be tough.
Blanker School is facing cuts equivalent to 19 teachers.
Recchio said the only way to prevent a teacher shortage is if the state legislature beefs up the funding.
Throughout Orange County, the district is planning to make cuts within the arts, sports and field trips.
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